Well what you are asking is this.
How much money should you put into a car before it would be better to just get a different car?

How much more car can I get if I combine my current STR value and the cost of the mods? Well this total is low so I am interested in adding the TS but the finished car will be a white elephant and have little to no resale value.

So I could go either way but if the car was worth more the mods would be more interesting.
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If you fitted the TS then after a while wanted to sell the car would you not remove the TS first? I expect the STR and TS sold separately would be worth more (except to someone who understood the TS kit).

It's hard to think you could get a 600HP or so car (let alone such a nice car) for the value of your STR + the TS kit cost.

 

JagV8,

You're overvaluing the STR, at least as it applies here on this side of the pond. Yes, our S-Types are still relatively nice cars when properly cared for, but from an economics standpoint they're aging dinosaurs that carry next to no resale value these days. Dropping twin-screw money into them now essentially guarantees that the vast majority of folks who decide to do this will suffer a huge financial loss when the time comes to unload the vehicle. There are always a few owners who emphatically claim "I will keep my car as long as I live" but a split-second accident caused by someone else's carelessness can wipe out that plan in a heartbeat since it certainly doesn't take much physical damage to total these cars now....

 

I'm not meaning that. Whatever the value of the STR, let's say zero, it's worth the same once the kit is removed. So the question becomes what would the used TS kit be worth and is the money lost on it worth the fun had using it?

Similarly, if a good 600HP car (good meaning similarish to an STR) can be had for - I don't know, maybe $30,000 - how much less is it worth after using it a while? Is that more than the loss in value of the TS kit?

 

JasgV8 I agree with you and want the TS badly but Jon has stated it better than I did.

Also brings up the point about an accident but the TS most likely would survive that and you could sell it separate but if the car is totaled the insurance company now owns it. So I would need to buy it back remove the TS. Sell that and then part out or junk the rest of the car.

Hard to justify and there is a lot of cars out there that are so tempting!

But I know the in's and out's of the S Type very well so I am not afraid to handle the repairs.
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Just a small hijack-

If a car has that low of a value, then it's waste of money to pay for collision insurance. This especially true if the insurance value would not reflect the cost of the add on TS kit, or anything similar.

Whether it's a good idea to modify an old car is more a function of it's mechanical condition that it's value.

 

So what 600HP car (along the lines of an STR with TS) would people buy and how much are they likely to cost to stay somewhere in the same price range? My example $30,000 is too much really but what is there that makes better sense (in as much as 600HP does) than the STR+TS?

 

Over the years, I haven’t found any cars where performance modifications increase the value.
Sometimes the modifications tend to hinder being able to sell the car.
Selling a car all comes down to the buyer who decides the car is a car they want to purchase at the price they are willing to pay. I’d guess that 90+ percent of potential STR buyers could care less if the car had a KB TS on it. They might appreciate the added power, but other factors like the overall condition of the car and asking price will outweigh modifications.

If you want to modify any older car it becomes a personal decision of how much it is worth to you to modify it and how much pleasure to get from the results. I don’t know any car enthusiast who puts a $20K+ engine and trans into a hot rod, that expects to get even ½ of the cost back if they have to sell the car in the future.

On the other hand, if you can purchase an older car with a blown engine for a couple thousand, put $20K into a modified higher HP engine, with other mods, that will let the car compete with newer $30+K cars, then you can end up ahead in the long run having a high performance car for much less money.

If you try to apply this approach to a high mileage tired STR Jaguar, it may become a money pit.

As a side note. My 04 STR, spent 10 years in the Texas heat. It still looks good, and runs great, but it is starting to have problems with interior plastic parts breaking. Seems like in the past year plastic interior parts keep breaking. This makes me wonder if I will be able to keep the interior intact, even if I keep the drivetrain is in good running order. I start to question modifying a car that I wont be able to find new or good interior replacement parts, where the mediocre quality plastic parts are becoming brittle and falling apart. Yesterday I was driving and the sunglass holder in front of the sun roof popped open. The tabs that lock it in place broke. 2 weeks before, the glove box wouldn’t open one side of the plastic cable connector in the lever broke. Speaker grill on the passenger side fell off, The plastic mirror cover snaps have broken, The visor foam is rotting and the visors are starting to fall apart. The plastic dress piece on the dash by the windshield is now broke in several places. The passenger door power lock stopped locking and unlocking the door. The chrome plating on the front door latches is detaching from the levers. About a year ago, the plastic runners in the sun roof broke. (I purchased the repair kit, but no time to install.)

 

I've said for several years now that the plastics and electronics in my S-Type will probably be the primary factors in deciding when it is time to sell or donate it. I still hope that decision is several years away, but time will tell. The car reached 95,000 miles yesterday....

 

>the plastics

Yes, I'm dreading the day when all the plastic cooling system "stuff" in front of the radiator begins to come apart...
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar
2015 JCNA National Slalom Champion Class M
Current: '08 S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

No collision on the STR so just an example. Yes I have been keeping up with the broken plastic as mine is also in hot Texas but I finally got my house so the STR is parked inside now. But the prior 7 years it had never seen a covered parking place. Got a lift to!

Just to keep cosmetics up I have replaced both sun visors because I could not find anyone who would redo them. I also replaced the plastic defroster panel after several repairs too. Expensive as the visors are over $220 each and defroster panel was $340+. Not worth it again because of the low value of the car but I am picky and have always drove old or older cars in very good condition. Currently I will be replacing the head liner for a second time because of sagging from the heat. But I do those myself and it will only be maybe $120-$150 total.

One positive thing keeping me in the STR is Jaguar seems to be very good about supplying parts. Pricey yes BUT available. I find our Lincoln LS at this time has almost nothing left to order thru Ford. I have been told no so many times I now look to used parts or a Jaguar substitute.

And I will note the Jaguar build quality is much better than the Lincoln but my STR listed $64K and the LS was around $42K new.
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There is no difference in repairs between Jaguars and other cars. There is no reason to go to a dealer for repairs.
Ford engines, German transmissions are in millions of cars. Bosch ABS systems, identical (almost) ABS modules with Jeeps and so on. Used parts are dirt cheap,lots of Jags on junk yards.
I paid $100 for 2 airbags and 5 explosive seat belts.(Seller drove the car w/o airbags and seat belts.

 

I think the great thing with the STR , although it is fairly rare around these parts any way ,
Thay share so many parts with the s type bace models . And running gear from xkr & xjr
Witch are far more common in NZ and are all plenty full at reakers yards , and online parting out ! It's not hard to keep up with failing cosmetics if you don't let it snow ball , and keep up with replacing them as they fail !
I too had to do the dash pannal $230nzd or so , sun visors , drip rail clips , eng bay scuttle clips . Radiator cover clips , door pannal clips , scuttle pannal screw covers , wiper nut covers ,
Headlight washer covers plastic to resin conversion ,
Plastic to reinforced resin head light adjusters conversion ,some one had already swapped the plastic thermostat housing and coolant inlet / outlet sistum to alloy when I bought it ,
But All just due to brittle old plastic , none of this was a hard job bar the head lights ,
And with out all of this done the car would have been heaverly devalued and possably sales proof to most prospective jaguar buyers ! And with all this done and the servicing up to date it's well worth keeping , and repairing . To the point were if it needs an engine or somthing else expensive then it will get it , can't say it would have been worth going down that road when I got the car . I bought the car without even seeing it from 900kms away and had it trucked to me as a non runner , thinking if the car was no good I might jam that engine in my OPEL with a link computer ! Luckerly for the STR parts are easy and it got its new lease on life .

 

Over here it's quite common to see 500 - 700hp HOLDEN comerdors and ford Falcons about $6-10k to up the Aussie v8s to around 600hp , but nowhere near as common as seeing a 600 to 1000hp Nissan skylines / cefairos or laurals , And it's cost effective to buy these things or build them too , for instance my naybor has a r32 gtr skyline 700hp the engine and insilerys cost around $10k nzd , about the same as the TS kit ! The car cost $25k and is worth 25k after 10k has been spent on it . I should mention that infact since that happend it had a further 70k on the rest of the car , he won't be seeing a return on that exept the fun factor ! The skyline is far more sought after than the STR so I think the loss would be grater on the TS STR! Still want one though !
Any way here is a local humble Japanese luxury sedan (Nissan laural) poking out over 800hp with a gtr engine ! I'm sure you would buy this for around the cost of an STR and the TS kit , you would hope the STR goes somthing like this -

 

Interesting (not sure they're really like an STR but hey no worries).

Anyone from USA want to post?

 

Just when you thought this thread was dead - I found it, and had a long read.. and things have changed quite a bit since this thread first started :-)

I live in south east UK and on a day to day basis you see a lot of XF's out and about, a few XJs (including a stretched limo version), and a few F-Types. Modern Jaguars are popular -very popular and if you look in Autotrader or the equivalent there are now lots of XFs from 2007 onwards all available to buy secondhand.

So yes, with hindsight the style move Jaguar made was the right call.

One of those odd things, is that when I got my first X308 I fell in love with it immediately - the classic looks, cabin design, even how easy it is to get to the main components the whole shebang.. it was an instant love that was reinforced over time.

In comparison when I got the X-Type, it was a Jaguar I liked, rather than loved (big distinction) and grew to trust it over time as a very capable compact car with Jaguar styling.. the amount of plastic had increased in the cabin and it had lost some of the feel, the suptuosness that came with an X308.

In comparison again when I got the S-Type, I was completely nonplussed by its shape, and moving from a V8, to a V6, and now a diesel engine was way out of the territory I was in with my first Jaguar, but the shape grows on you over time, it really does - it surprised me, and it is a very capable car.. again quite a bit of plastics but more leather and design cues than the X-Type had.

All three Jaguars completely different, and some would say two out of three not true Jaguars but they grow on you and I have loved, and do love all three of them - all different shapes, differing degrees of plastics, even engines and drive trains completely different - all fantastic drives for different reasons

I have noted the same with the XF - when it first appeared I hated the shape - no question of it, but now they have been out a number of years I am used to the shape and quite like it - at the same time I recognise it does not have all the design cues of a classic Jag (in my mind a fully loaded X308 :-)) but it is a car I could live with in a few years if my S-Type failed me, and is still a Jaguar.

The way I see it is classic Jaguars have all the design cues that make you love it instantly from the moment you first see it, touch it and get in the cabin - The X-Types, S-Types etc are all Jaguars that have enough design cues for you to like tham as soon as you see them, or get behind the wheel - you learn to love them - The XF's are cars that intially you do not like them at first sight, but with familiarity learn to like them and then maybe to love them.

Jaguar had to move forwards with technology and design they had no choice and I believe they now produce cars that compete with the best modern luxury cars out there much the same as they did with the X308 and earlier models in their eras.

I have moved forward with these changes (albeit from the bottom of the pond so to speak with my limited budget) and recognise that newer Jaguars are just as Jaguar as ever, but it is the learning to love your Jaguar curve that has developed with the changes that suggests to me that Jaguar has not lost it's way as much as it has dropped something in the design cues that takes a Jaguar up that extra level or notch, to one where you just have to have it when you see it - leaving me with this huge soft spot for the X300 series that a newer Jaguar never quite fills, despite being far more capable :-)